Wednesday July 25th, 2018
Today we went to Grand Traverse Lighthouse, which is at the tip of the Leelaneau Peninsula. It was a long but scenic drive of over 60 miles one way.
We arrived safely.
Walking from the car park toward the lighthouse. The walk had some pretty flowers and an unusual tree.
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| Northern White Cedar |
This works out, by my calculations, to a 48 hours week and a cost of $150 each for the privilege of staying at the lighthouse. A conservative estimate of $10/hour means they are getting $630 per person. That's $1,260 for both of us. I guess in comparison to the $2,100 a week it cost to stay at Point Betsie that's not so bad. Except, not much time to relax and enjoy it!!
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| This model was made from Lego's |
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| Stairs going up to the next level |
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| Bryan waiting to go up into the tower |
There were informational pictures at each view looking out that told you what you could see. This one showed North & South Manitou Islands and we were hoping we would be able to see the lighthouse on South Manitou from here but it wasn't clear.
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| An old water pump down below. |
Back outside we walked down to the Fog Signal Building.
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| Raspberries |
Inside the fog signal building were a couple of exhibits.
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| Bryan maneuvering the remotely operated vehicle in the water. |
Back outside we walked back toward the lighthouse.
and around the back. There were some gardens that led to short trails to the rocky beach.
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| Back of the lighthouse. |
I saw a butterfly flying around and it eventually settled but I only got this blurry picture. I was quite happy as I haven't seen a butterfly for a while and have missed them.
Bryan sat waiting for me. For once he was ahead of me, ha!!ha!!
There were several of these gravel trails to the water. It was lovely.
The lighthouse peeked through the trees.
Another butterfly that Bryan managed to get a much better picture of.
Can you spot it in this picture?
A nice bench at the base of a big tree. Some great shade on a hot day.
We got our lighthouse stamp in the gift shop and then walked back to the car.
We were looking at the trees and the shadows the sun was creating in the forest area, alongside the car park. A lady told her husband there must be something in there, that they are taking pictures of. Nope, these crazies are just taking pictures of trees and the sun reflecting through. It did make us laugh though, as we mischievously envisioned starting to stare and take pictures of stupid things, just to see if we could get everyone looking for something that wasn't there!!!
Back on the road, we took some pictures of things that caught our eye as we drove along.
We saw this small unmanned airport and stopped to have a look. Read this link, as Woolsey Memorial Airport has a very interesting story attached to it.
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| This lady was painting a picture |
The runway, at night the lights are electronically operated by pilots as they take off or come into land.
We stopped at Fischers Happy Hour Tavern on the way back for lunch/dinner, out in the middle of nowhere. There were only a few people there when we arrived, but it soon became full. I tried a Summer Shandy, their "special", but was disappointed that it was a ready made shandy in a bottle that you can buy anywhere. I thought it would be a hand made one. I knew it would be different from English Shandy as they don't have fizzy lemonade but thought it worth a try.
This rum was named after the town.
Look at the way these pine trees are trimmed as they grow alongside the road.
Someone had built this in their garden.
That's it for today, another long but interesting day trip.
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